EUDE STONE MONUMENTS OF CORNWALL. 191 



idea that certain uneonseerated menliirs became objects of 

 avoidance to early Christians, also seems suggested in the name 

 of the " Devil's Whetstone," applied to one in North Cornwall, 

 while elsewhere we have the '' Devil's Arrows," and kindred 

 designations. 



Memorial stones thus set aside on the one hand, and 

 presumably converted crosses on the other, we find ourselves 

 confronted by a point of considerable difficulty. There are 

 many boundary stones and cattle posts in the county, of compar- 

 atively modern date. How shall we know if any particular 

 menhir is prehistoric ? Only, I think, in one of two ways. We 

 must either judge it by the company it keeps, or by some 

 special feature of locality. When we find a menhir associated 

 with other rude stone monuments we may safely rank it with 

 them. All other cases must stand on their own individual 

 merits. 



Now while it must be granted that the inscribed menhirs 

 are not only memorial but sepulchral — fairly equivalent in fact 

 to the modern headstone, it must follow that some at least of 

 the plain examples are sepulchral likewise. We cannot believe 

 that a class of monument commonly used for one special purpose 

 should be suddenly — indeed violently — adopted for quite 

 another. The conclusion would be absurd. Besides we know 

 that the menhirs associated with the stone rows of Dartmoor are 

 sepulchral, and that human remains have now and again been 

 found at their feet in Cornwall (Mr. Borlase thus records Pridden, 

 Trelew, Trenuggo, Tresvennack, Tregiffian — associated with a 

 kist-vaen), while at Trewren and Treganneris graves were found 

 to be between them ; and in some other cases where remains 

 have not been seen it may very well be because they lie directly 

 beneath. My own view therefore is clear, that most of the 

 Cornish prehistoric menhirs are not merely memorial but 

 sepulchral ; and in this category I should include generally those 

 associated with circles. Commonly indeed the association is 

 merely one of antiquity, just as in a modern graveyard a vault 

 and a headstone and a private burial plot may adjoin, with no 

 necessary connection beyond their common purpose. 



